Distributor for combustion engines



March 17, 1925.

G. J. RATHBUN DISTRIBUTOR FOR COMBUSTION ENGINES- Filed April 25, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 1* u: m f m 0 :t: 1% r 5n 6 f. A W 1 u M 5 0 L 4 1 e V/A A u :o/PK W W A/A 9 a c a a 1 Q 7.141! \\0 MN\\K, I F m E \Z 11 X c v 1,530,059 G. .1. RATHBUN DISTRIBUTOR FOR COMBUSTION ENGINES March d7, 1925.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 25. 1924 Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE J. BATHBUN, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR '1O INGERSOLL-BAND COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY, JOINTLY. WITH THE mmuN-Jom' ENGINEERING COMPANY, A OORPORATION'OI' OHIO.

DISTRIBUTOR FOB COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed April 25,1924. Serial No. 708,835.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Gnoaon J. RATHBUN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Toledo, county of Lucas, and State of Ohio, have invented a certain Distributor for Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specification accompanied by drawings.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and more particularly to devices for su plying fuel selectively to a plurality of cy inders without the admixture of air and purely mechanical.

Heretofore, in multi-cylinder engines of the solid injection type, it has generally been the practice to provide each cylinder with an individual pump to inject the fuel. It is the object of this invent-ion to provide a device which may be used in connection with a multi-cylinder engine to distribute the fuel to the various cylinders in a predetermined order and which renders the use of a plurality of pumps unnecessary. The use of this device has a number of advantages among which may be mentioned simplicity and consequent cheapness, and uniformity in the amount ofcharge supplied to each and all of the cylinders, and accuracy of timing of the supply of fuel with respect to the operating cycle of the various cylinders. This device needin the use of only one pump produces these a vantageous results; A single pump injects'the fuel into all of the cylinders, which injection is certain to be like every other injection in amount and, if the conditions in each of the cylinders .are the same equal explosiveforce in the cylinders so that the engine will fire evenly and smoothly. A system using this distributing device should berelatively inexpensive on account of the cheapness of a single fuel pump and distributing device as compared with the costof a number of pumps, one for each cylinder, together with the elimination of the plurality of driving gears for actuating the pumps. The timing of the fuel injection may be accurately predetermined b accurate construction of the distributing evice, whereas the use of an individual pump for each cylinder may re- .passage G extendin quire separate timing and adj driving connections therefor.

Other objects and advantages of the fuel distributor of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunctionwith the drawings in which there isshown one form. which the invention may assume in practice.

Figure 1 is aside elevation in section of a fuel distributing device constructed in accordance with the practice of the invention, showing the driving connections therefor and one of the engine cylinders and fuel injection nozzle to be associated with the distributor;

Figure 2 is a top view with the cover plate of the distributor removed showing the driving gears on the line 22 of Figure 1 looking 1n the direction of the arrows;

igure 3 is a plan view of the distributor head in section along the line 33 in Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the machine along the line 4-4: in Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows showing the connection at the main driving shaft.

The distributor is provided with a body A having a head B ti htly fitted together to prevent the escape o fluid therebetween. An apertur'eC is provided in the body A to accommodate a rotatable disc D held against the lower face of the head B by means of a ustment of the coil spring E, rotation of the spring being permitted by a convex bearing member F lying in the bottom of the aperture C. A

adapted. to conduct uel oil to. the aperture C from a suitable source, preferably an in jection vpump of the type shown in copending application Serial No. 708,837, filed April 25, 1924. Such a pump is adapted to supply fuel intermittentl under pressure there being periods at w 'ch the pressure drops to a negligible amount, although at the instant that it isdesired to inject the fuel into the combustion engine cylinder the pressure is extremely hig as, for instance, 1,000 lbs. per square inch.

The distributor is adapted to be'used with an engine having more than one cylinder into the body. A is and its purpose is, therefore, to complete a free and unobstructed passage from the source of fuel selectively to the injection nozzles at the cylinders. To this end, the disc D is provided with a ort H which, as the disc rotates is adapte to register successively with a plurality of ports J in the face of the head B an equal distance from each other and from the center of rotation of the disc D. A passage K is provided for each of the ports J and leads to the exterior of the head B for connection with suitable pipes L leading to theinjection nozzles O of the cylinders P; Only oneof the cylinders P is shown in the drawings, it being understood that the others are similar thereto.

As the disc D rotates, the port H registers successively with the ports J and remains for a moment with said ports in registry. Means for producing such intermlttent rotation of the disc D includes a shaft Q attached to the disc D by means of a key R or other suitable device and extending through the head B for connection with intermittent driving gears S and I T. The gear S is mounted for rotation on a sleeve U whichis provided witha large aperture V to allow the shaft Q, to rotate freely without possibility of interference although said shaft may be out of alignment with the'center of the sleeve U. The purpose of this is to insure that the contactin' faces of the disc D and the head B will a ways be permitted to lie fiat against each other without external interference. The shaft Q, is loosely connected with the gear S. through the pin W mounted in a removable head X on the shaft Q, the pin W being loosely in engagement with a slot Y. cut in the rim of the hub Z formed integrally with the gear S In order to hold 'the PIE-W. in the slot Y a spring clip a so as to release of the teeth k are cut to passing through a oove b in the head X grips the hub Z 0 the gear S at holes 0. The clip a may be sprung ofif the head X the shaft Q and permit its removal. a v

The sleeve U is mounted in a frame d upon which the body A and head'B are supported.

Suitable studs 6' pass through the body A and the headB and spacers f to hold the tion.

nalledat a hollow frame 11. One form of intermittent driving gear which may be employed is shown in F gure 2 wherein the gear T is rovided wlth teeth It whichare placed relatlvely' far apart as compared with the spacing of the corresponding teeth I: on the driven gear S. The space between the teeth It is part1 cylindrical as at 12 except. close to the teet h where it is cut away as at q. The ends body and head firmly-in posis d. Since'thisisthesamespe The vintermltten t driving gear T is jourtlig bearing 9 mounted in theconform to the cylindrical surface ;0 on the gear T. Thus, as the gear T rotates, the tooth h meshes with one of the teeth is and rotates the gear S through an angle corresponding to two teeth In. After the tooth h is passed out of mesh with the teeth is, the cut awayends of the teeth It engage the cylindrical surface p of the gear T and the gear S is held stationary by said cylindrical surface until the next tooth It comes into mesh with the tooth k. The periphery of the gear being cut away at g, the tooth is is permitted to dro into the recess .so formed and the gear is thereupon rotated to a degree corresponding to two teeth is, the recess on the rearward side of the tooth It permitting the end of the tooth k topass. The number of teeth It on the gear T preferably corresponds to the number of cylinders in the engine. The, number of teeth A: on the gear S will be twice this number. since each tooth k in gassing meshes with two teeth of the gear From the: above description it will be seen that there is a period of rest in the gear S and consequently in the disc D followed bya rapid shift during the period of no pressure. The port H is arranged to be in registry with one of the ports J and it is the fuel injection pump should occur. The

shifting of the disc D should be timed to occur during a period of substantially no pressure at the fuel source. One advantage of this arrangement is that there will be no pressure on the disc D while the disc is being rotated for .the injection pressure is usually high and it would be diflicult to rotate the disc D with the high pressure pressing it into contact with the face of the head B. It is for this purpose that the disc D is rotated intermittently and remains stationary while the injection pressure is applied.

The intermittent driving gear T is driven preferably throu h gears or similar means directly connects with the crank shaft of the engine so that the rotation of the disc D bears a fixed relation to the crank shaft rotation. In the case of ash: cylinder, four- ;stroke cycle engine, the driving gear T should rotate at one half the crank shaft ed at which cam shaft-.for operating inlet and exhaust valves is driven, the gear T may be driven by gears such as the bevelgears r and q, the former bein mounted on the cam shaft 6', "the latter pen a shaft a loosely connected with the gear T. The loose connection ,between the shaft-u and the gear T comprises a keyv re 4) held in engagement with the en of the shaft u by means of a pine: and inserted in the slotted end an of the hub y of the gear T. A pin a msertable into the key 1: at

a notch 2 insures that the timing of the gears T. will be correct. The'key 'v, the shaft u and the hub 31 are held in position by a washer 3 and the nut 4 on the threaded end of the shaft u.

A cover 5 for the frame d is suitably recessed to act as a bearing for the ars S and T and is held in place-by suitab e studs 6 having nuts 7.

. The frame (I is preferably mounted on the engine base 8 by means of studs 9 and nuts 10. A suitable bearing for the shaft u is provided by the sleeve 11 in the engine base 8. Lubrication for the gears S and T may be provided through the holes 12 and 13 respectively, surplus oilfrom the interior of the hubs Z and y being permitted to drain through the apertures 14 and 15 respectively.

When initially setting the distributor, it is desirable to be able'to determine the position of the port H with respect to the orts 4 J so as to properly time the injection 0 fuel into the cylinders. To this end there are provided pins 16 mounted on the upper face of the head B corresponding to the position of the ports. J, and an index 17 adjacent the pin 16, mounted on the shaft Q, which together indicate the position of the port H with respect to the ports J.

I claim:

1. A fuel distributing apparatus for multi-cylinder internal combustion. engines comprising the combination of a plurality of passages associated with corresponding cylinders, a source of fuel intermittentl under pressure, means to connect the sai selectively with said passages, and means to shift said connecting means during periods of substantially no pressure in said fuel source.

2. A fuel distributing apparatus for multi-cylinder internal combustion engines comprising the combination of a plurality of passages associated with corresponding cylinders, a source offuel intermittently under pressure, means to connect said source selectively with said passages including a pair of relatively movable discs, one of said discs being provided with a plurality of ports communicating with said passages and the other being associated with said source, and means to shift said connecting means durin periods of substantially no pressure in sai fuel source.

3. A fuel distributing apparatus for niulti-cylinder internal combustion engines comprising the combination of a plurality of passages associated with corresponding c linders, a source of fuel intermittently un er pressure, means to connect said source selectively with said passages including a pair of relatively movable discs, one of said discs being provided with a plurality of ports communicating with said passages and the other being associated with said source, and

intermittent gearing to shift said connecting means during periods of substantially no pressure of said fuel source.

4. A fuel distributing device for multicylin'der internal combustion en ines comprisin the combination of a body portion, a hea on said body portion provided with ports leading to the cylinders of said engine, an intermittently rotatable disc within said body portion having a port ada ted to register with the ports in'said hea in a predetermined order, and meansfor holding said disc. againstsaid head.

5. A fuel distributing device for multicylinder internal combustion en ines comprisin the combination of a b y portion, a head orts leading to the cylinders of said engine, an intermittently rota-table disc having a port adapted to register with the ports in said head, and a shaft associated with said disc extending through said head.

6. A fuel distributing device for multicylinder internal combustion engines comprisin the combination of a body portion, a hea on said body portion provided with ports leading to the cylinders of said engine, an intermittently rotatable disc within said body portion having a port ada ted to register with the ports in said he'a in a predetermined order, a shaft associated with the said disc extending through said head, and

on said body portion provided with intermittent driving gears for rotating said shaft in a flexible connection between one of said gears and said shaft.

7 A fuel distributing device for multicylinder internal combustion en ines comprising the combination of a b y portion, a head on said body portion provided with ports and passages extending radially there-- from leading to the cylinders of said engine, an intermittently rotatable disc having a port adapted to register with the ports in said head in a pre etermined'order, and a shaft associated with said disc extending throu 11 said head.

8. fuel distributing device for multicylinder internal combustion en nes comprising the combination of a y portion, a head on said body portion provided with ports and passages extending radially therefrom leading to the cylinders of said engine, an intermittently rotatable disc on the said body portion having a port ada ted to register with the ports in said bee in a redetermined order, a shaft associated'wit said disc extending through said head, and intermittent driving gears flexibly connected with said shaft. a 1

9. A fuel distributing device for multicylinder internal combustion en ines coman intermittently rotatable disc within said body portion having a port ada ted to register with the ports 1n said hea in a predetermined order, a spring holdin said disc against said head, a bearing mem r permitting rotation of said spring with said disc, a shaft associated with said disc extending through said head, intermittent driving gears for rotating said shaft, a flexible connection between one of said gears and said 10 shaft, and a driving shaft for the other said gears being loosel connected to said shaft. In testimony w ereof I have signed this specification.

GEORGE J. RATHBUN. 

